Intermittently illuminated fishing lure

ABSTRACT

A fishing lure containing one or more light sources includes a guideway along which a battery rolls back and forth in response to an oscillatory movement of the lure. A series of spaced-apart stationary electrical contacts are positioned along the guideway to be successively engaged by the moving battery to intermittently complete a circuit and energize the light sources. The light sources are internally mounted for protection by the body of the lure and the light is transmitted to exterior locations by optical conductors.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to fishing lures and, more particularly,to illuminated fishing lures.

A variety of fishing lures have been proposed that are illuminated totake advantage of the natural attraction of fish to light. Many suchlures have been unduly expensive and fragile.

Some illuminated lures have been constructed so that they flash inresponse to movement of the lure. These lures may flash withinsufficient frequency and often have an awkward or unnatural overallappearance attributable to a relatively bulk flashing mechanism. Otherlures have been proposed that flash in response to the resonance of atransistorized circuit, but the constant regularity with which theyflash gives an artificial and suspicious appearance.

An objective of the present invention is to provide a new and improvedilluminated lure that overcomes many disadvantages of the previouslyknown lures.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is embodied in a fishing lure provided with a bodythat defines a guideway along which a series of stationary electricalcontacts are arranged. As the lure oscillates, a movable contact travelsalong the guideway under the force of gravity to successively engage thestationary contacts, thereby completing a circuit to intermittentlyenergize a light source. The movable contact can be a terminal of abattery.

Preferably, the lure is elongated in its direction of intended movementthrough the water with the guideway extending in the same direction sothat a rocking movement of the lure causes the movable contact to rollback and forth. A plurality of stationary contacts can be arranged in arow along one side of the guideway with one or more contacts beingpositioned on the opposite side. The movable contact can then bedimensioned to simultaneously engage stationary contacts on both sidesto complete the circuit.

The light source can be advantageously enclosed within the body of thelure where it is well protected from damage on impact and when it isattacked by a fish. Light conductors carry the light to one or morelocations on the exterior of the lure.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a pictorial view of an illuminated fishing lure constructed inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the lure taken along theline 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional top view of the lure taken alongthe line 3--3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the lure taken alongthe line 4--4 of FIG. 1.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A fishing lure 10, illustrated in FIGS. 1-4 of the accompanyingdrawings, includes many innovative features of the present invention,although it has a relatively conventional outward appearance, as shownin FIG. 1. It has an elongated body 12 of a generally fish-like shapewith two fish hooks 14 attached at the bottom. At the front end of thebody 12 is a spoon-shaped member 16 that extends downwardly andforwardly.

As the lure 10 is pulled through the water by a line 18, the spoon 16causes the lure to have an oscillating movement. First, the action ofthe water against the spoon 16 pushes the front end of the body 12 down.Then, the resistance of the canted lure becomes too great and the frontend rises with a relatively abrupt motion. This action of the lure iscommonly used and is thought to be attractive to fish since it simulatesthe motion of a natural food source.

Most of the body 12 of the lure 10 is formed by a main section 20, withthe exception of the tail end which is formed by a cap section 22 thatis threadedly received by the main section, as best shown in FIGS. 3 and4. An O-ring 23 seals the threaded interface in a watertight manner.

Extending longitudinally along the main section 20 (in the direction ofintended movement of the lure 10 through the water) is an elongatedguideway 24 of rectangular cross-section. Along each vertical side ofthe guideway 24 is a printed circuit board 26, 28. Each board 26, 28consists of a flat, elongated, non-conductive plate 30 glued to the mainbody section 20. A comb-shaped conductive element 32 (preferably copper)is mounted on each plate to provide a row of spaced-apart verticalcontacts 34 interconnected at their top ends by a strip 36. Thesecontacts 34 are referred to as stationary contacts because they are notmovable with respect to the body 12.

Two light sources 38 and 40 are enclosed within the body 12 of the lure10, one being mounted at the head end of the main section 20 and theother in the cap 22. Preferably, the light sources 38 and 40 arelight-emitting diodes (LEDs) which are small, require little current,and have a high life expectancy. Each light source 38, 40 iselectrically connected across the two circuit boards 26 and 28, the headend source 38 being permanently wired to the boards and the tail endsource 40 carrying two resilient, conductive prongs 42 that bear againstthe ends of the boards when the cap 22 is in place.

Two bundles 44 of light conducting optical fibers diverge from the headend light source 38 and lead to the simulated eyes 46 of the fish. Asingle bundle 48 of fibers leads from the tail end light source 40 outthe rear of the body 12 and fans out to provide an attractiveilluminated display. The use of light conductors not only enables onelight source 38 to illuminate more than one exterior location but itprotects the sources 38 and 40 from damage by attacking fish or objectsthat might be struck by the lure 10 when it is cast.

Power to energize the light sources 38 and 40 is provided by adisk-shaped battery 50 inserted in the guide-way 24 between the boards26 and 28. The two ends of the battery 50, which is of a conventionaland readily available type sometimes referred to as a "button" battery,form terminals that serve as movable contacts. The battery 50 isdimensioned to simultaneously engage the stationary contacts 34 on bothsides of the guideway 24 as it rolls on its circumferential edge.

One terminal end 52 of the battery 50 is flat and is always inengagement with at least one of the stationary contacts 34 while theopposite terminal is a small protrusion 54 (FIG. 2) that may be inengagement with one of the stationary contacts or may be located in thespace between them, depending upon the precise position of the batterywithin the guideway 24. The circuit that powers the parallel lightsources 38 and 40 is completed only when both battery terminals 52 and54 are simultaneously in engagement with stationary contacts 34. Thelight sources are, therefore, energized intermittently as the battery 50rolls back and forth within the guideway 24 under the force of gravitydue to the rocking action of the lure 10.

It will be appreciated that the circuit board 28 adjacent the flat end52 of the battery 50 need not include individual contact elements 34 butmay instead be a single strip-like contact since it is always engaged bythe battery. It is preferred, however, to use two similar circuit boards26 and 28 to minimize the number of different components required tofabricate the lure 10.

The lure 10 embodies a simple and inexpensive yet very reliablemechanism that causes flashing of the light sources 38 and 40. It can beinactivated easily by unscrewing the cap 22 and removing the battery 50.The flash rate and the number of flashes that accompany each change oforientation is controlled by the number of individual contacts 34 andthe distance between them. The light sources 38 and 40 can be caused toremain on or to remain off when the battery 50 is at rest at one end ofthe guide channel 24, depending upon whether there is a contact 34positioned to be engaged by the battery at that location. Anotherpotential advantage of the lure 10 is that the movement of the battery50 produces a noise as it rolls along the guideway 24, clicking againstthe contacts 34 and hitting against the ends. These sounds callattention to the lure 10 and may help to attract fish.

The flashing of the lure 10 is not regular and continuous. Instead theretends to be a series of flashes each time the lure 10 changes itsorientation in the water. Since the front end of the lure 10 usuallyrises more rapidly than it falls, successive series of flashes will havedifferent flash rates. The irregular flash pattern produced tends tohave a more natural appearance as compared to continuous flashing at afixed rate and it is more attention-getting than less frequent flashesoccurring only once on each change of orientation.

While a particular form of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, it will also be apparent that various modifications can bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:
 1. In a fishing lure containing a light source and includingmeans for producing oscillatory movement of said lure as it is pulledthrough the water, the improvement comprising:a guideway within saidlure; a plurality of stationary electrical contacts disposed along saidguideway; circuit means for connection said contacts to said lightsource; and a disk-shaped battery disposed within said guideway andadapted to roll therealong in response to said oscillatory movement,said battery including terminals adapted to engage said contacts and tothereby intermittently energize said light source as said battery movesalong said guideway.
 2. A fishing lure comprising:a body; at least onefish hook attached to said body; means for causing oscillatory movementof said body as it is pulled through the water; a light source carriedby said body; a guideway defined by said body; at least one row ofelectrical contacts arranged along said guideway, each of said contactsbeing electrically connected to said light source; and a batterydisposed within said guideway and movable therealong in response to saidoscillatory movement of said body, said battery having a terminalarranged to successively engage said contacts as said battery movesalong said guideway, whereby said light source is intermittentlyenergized by said battery.
 3. The fishing lure of claim 2 wherein saidbody is elongated in the direction of its intended movement through thewater and said guideway extends in said direction of intended movement.4. The fishing lure of claim 2 wherein said battery is disk-shaped andthereby adapted to roll along said guideway.
 5. The fishing lure ofclaim 2 wherein:said body is elongated in the direction of its intendedmovement through the water and said guideway extends in said directionof intended movement; said lure including at least one additionalcontact disposed on the opposite side of said guidway from said row ofcontacts; and said battery is disk-shaped, being thereby adapted to rollalong said guideway, and has a terminal on each end thereof.
 6. Thefishing lure of claim 2 wherein:said light source is enclosed withinsaid body; and said lure includes at least one light conductor extendingfrom said light source to the exterior of said body.
 7. The fishing lureof claim 2 wherein:said light source is enclosed within said body; andsaid lure includes a plurality of light conductors extending from saidlight source to a plurality of separate locations on the exterior ofsaid body.
 8. The fishing lure of claim 2 wherein said body comprises amain section that includes said guideway and a cap section forming anend of said body that is threadedly attached to said main section, saidcap section being removable to replace said battery.
 9. A fishing lurecomprising:a main body section having a head end and elongated in adirection in which it is intended to be moved through the water; a capbody section having a tail end and threadedly attached to said main bodysection to form an enclosed body; at least one fish hook attached tosaid main body section; means attached to said main body section tocause oscillatory movement of said body; a light source enclosed withinsaid body; a plurality of light conductors leading from said lightsource to a plurality of separated locations on the exterior of saidbody; an interior guideway extending through said main body section inthe direction of its elongation; a row of spaced-apart electricalcontacts arrayed along a first side of said guideway, each of saidcontacts being electrically connected to said light source; at least oneelectrical contact disposed on a second side of said guideway oppositesaid row of contacts; and a disk-shaped battery disposed within saidguideway and adapted to roll back and forth along said guideway inresponse to said oscillatory movement of said body, said battery havingfirst and second terminals on opposite ends thereof arranged tosimultaneously engage said contacts on said first and second sides ofsaid guideway as said battery rolls along said guideway tointermittently energize said light source.